The U.S. plays Russia, who is coming off a 3-1 come-from-behind victory against Sweden on Thursday evening. Forward Andrei Svechnikov scored twice while goaltender Maxim Zhukov stopped 43 of 44 shots in the Russian victory.
The United States and Russia are meeting for the 17th time in IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship history. Russia is the only team in the tournament with a winning record against the U.S. all-time (5-1-0-10-0) (W-OTW-OTL-L-T).
The U.S. was victorious in the last matchup between the two countries. On April 16, 2016, the U.S. defeated Russia 8-2 in a preliminary round game which marked the largest ever margin of victory between the two teams. Russia has a slight edge in goals for (54) versus the U.S. (53) all-time. The two teams last met in the medal round in 2009 when the U.S. shutout Russia 5-0 to secure its first of four-consecutive gold medals (2009-2012).
DATE | OPPONENT | TIME (Local/ET)/RESULT | LOCATION | TV |
---|---|---|---|---|
April 7 | Exhibition vs. Belarus | W, 5-2 | Hodonin, Czech Republic | |
April 10 | Exhibition vs. Finland | W, 5-2 | ZS Spisska Nova Ves | |
April 13 | Belarus | W, 7-0 | ZS Spisska Nova Ves | NHL Network |
April 15 | Russia | W, 5-4 | ZS Spisska Nova Ves | NHL Network |
April 17 | Czech Republic | W, 5-2 | ZS Spisska Nova Ves | NHL Network |
April 18 | Sweden | W, 5-1 | ZS Spisska Nova Ves | NHL Network |
April 20 | Switzerland Quarterfinals |
W, 4-2 | ZS Spisska Nova Ves | NHL Network |
April 22 | Sweden Semifinals |
W, 4-3 OT | ZS Poprad | NHL Network |
April 23 | Finland • Gold Medal Game | W, 4-2 | ZS Poprad | NHL Network |